Your Greatest Temptation

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” 

1 Corinthians 10:12 

Have you ever seen a fellow believer fall into deep sin and thought to yourself, I would never do that? Maybe a prominent Christian has made the news for embezzling funds or abandoning his or her wedding vows. When you hear the news, you shake your head and say, “How could someone do such a thing?”  

Today’s Scripture has good counsel for all of us when we imagine ourselves to be above certain sins: “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” In other words, don’t be proud or smug when others sin, because you are not as strong, courageous, and godly as you think you are.  

Consider Noah, who stood firm in a land filled with sin—only to become drunk and disgraced in his own tent (Genesis 9:20-23).  Your greatest temptation doesn’t come when you feel weak and vulnerable, but rather when you feel strong, devoted, and above the fray. 

Father, I know I have done this. I have seen brothers and sisters stumble, shaken my head, and thought to myself, “How could they?” But You know the truth, God. You know that sometimes I have avoided sin, not because I’m more devout, but because I lacked opportunity! Father, I admit my weakness today. I want to be strong in You—not in myself!